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Tag Archives: fibromyalgia

[Description: Line drawing of a Potoo bird with its lower body shaped like a tablet; the tablet reads “M365.” To the bottom right of the Potoo is the cartoonist, grimacing in obvious pain. The two are having a conversation:

–From Wikipedia’s entry on Heaven’s Gate (content warning on link for description of suicide and photos)

I’ve been fascinated with the Heaven’s Gate cult ever since I saw–as an 11 year-old–a huge photograph of the members’ dead bodies, apparently peacefully posed on bunkbeds, on the front page of my local paper, under the rather alarmist headline (and all-caps) headline HOUSE OF HORROR. As I picked up bits and pieces of information on the group that the news media breathlessly reported throughout April and May of 1997, I began to wonder if the “house of horror” headline was overblown; yes, these folks had committed mass suicide, but they had also found people to whom they could relate and live with peacefully (albeit in a fringe religious group). Was that so horrifying? To most people–and to the media–it seemed like the answer was a resounding yes.

[Description: Two-panel line drawing of a rainstorm. In the first panel, text on top reads “Other people see rain…”; the accompanying illustration shows a happy person wearing a raincoat and saying “Good thing I have my raincoat!” The second panel has top text as well, which reads “I see rain…”, and this panel’s illustration shows the cartoonist standing in the same rainstorm, with knives of varying sizes replacing raindrops. The cartoonist’s speech bubble reads “SHIT” as straight lines on both of her shoulders signify intense pain.]

[Description: Four-panel cartoon; first panel is labeled “Self-Perception and features a line drawing of Annaham happily gobbling pills while excitedly saying “PILLS!”; the other three panels come under a heading that reads “Reality.” The second panel features Annaham grasping a bottle of pills in one hand and a single pill in the other; a thought bubble reads, “If I take this for pain, does that mean I’m an addict?” The third panel depicts Annaham with a worried/pained look on her face, plus a thought bubble that reads “OH FUCK.” The fourth panel pictures Annaham lying on the ground in obvious pain as tears flow from her eyes. A thought bubble reads, “If I take pills, I will become addicted. WILLPOWER.” The text at the bottom right of this image reads “5 minutes later.”]

Variation on a theme. Click for a higher-quality version; I’m not sure why WordPress shows the image as horribly pixelated and I can’t seem to fix it.

I haven’t been able to put together a post for Blogging Against Disablism Day (BADD) this year due to other commitments, but be sure to go check out the list of this year’s posts, compiled by Goldfish at Diary of a Goldfish. As with other years, I am sure that there will be many excellent and thought-provoking posts!

[Description: Line drawing of a nude young woman with shoulder-length dark hair and hairy legs; she stands with arms extended. She has a pained expression on her face, and arrows of varying sizes pierce her body. Both her chest and crotch areas are covered with large “X” marks.]